Syria: Report on commando unit operation fabricated
Information minister denies report that elite IDF unit seized nuclear material of North Korea origin during discreet raid on secret military site in Syria. According to minister, Damascus wants peace while Israel violates international law
Syrian Information Minister Muhsin Bilal has denied the reports that an elite IDF commando unit seized nuclear material of North Korean origin during a daring raid on a secret military site in Syria before the reported IAF overflight this month.
"These reports are not true. This is a baseless fabrication like the ones that have been spread against Iraq," Bilal said in an interview with the London-based Arabic-language newspaper al-Sharq al-Awsat published Monday.
During the interview, Bilal was asked if Syria expected further Israeli activities in its area and replied that as far as the government in Damascus was concerned, "Everything is possible. Israel has America's support. They are provoking the international community and have not implemented even one Security Council resolution. They say one thing and do something else."
According to the Syrian minister, the Israeli government was carrying out offensives in order to conceal its weakness.
"The Olmert government is a very weak government and can do anything in order to improve its situation. We seek peace and demand the return of our rights and land. We know for certain that the Golan Heights will be fully returned to Syria. The other side, however, talks about peace only for internal purposes and carries out offensives and violates the international resolutions day after day."
Asked whether Damascus has made any decision ahead of another potential Israeli operation, the Syrian minister replied, "As long as we are aware of their aggressive intentions, that they are suppressing evil and continuing to provoke the international community, they must stop and obey the international law."
'Israel interfering in Lebanese politics'
Meanwhile, Syria accused Israel and United States of interfering in Lebanon's internal issues. In an editorial published in the Tishrin daily, one of the Syrian government's mouthpieces, Syria claimed that it was not involved in the crisis regarding the presidential elections in Lebanon, as opposed to Israel and the US.
"Syria does not interfere in the Lebanese issue, and will support anything the Lebanese agree upon. This is an unequivocal issue."
According to the article, Israel and the US are trying to bolster the anti-Syrian camp in Lebanon while sabotaging the unity among the Lebanese people.
"What attracts the attention is that what Syria is not allowed to do, others like the US and Israel are allowed to. They publicly interfere in the internal Lebanese issue, supporting the February 14 group (a derogatory name for the anti-Syrian camp) and urging it to violate the constitution and elect a president, regardless of the results.
"This strengthens the estimation that things in Lebanon are not moving in the right direction, and that this group is supported by the US and Israel in order to harm the national Lebanese unity."
